Progress Report - December 2007
Target Recommendations
The ISPC has now endorsed a list of targets for each of the Key Performance Indicators. This list will be sent to the president and the vice presidents by mid-December for further review.
KPIs
On November 19, a small subcommittee of Priority III met to discuss suggestions for KPIs that may better measure research productivity at CMU. One goal of the meeting was to determine if we currently have the resources to begin data collection for the proposed measures. We continue to investigate possible solutions to these concerns and hope to improve our data captures to reflect quality research productivity in the near future.
Also, the Undergraduate Enrollment (on-campus) KPI has been updated to reflect Fall 2007 headcounts. We are expecting Fall 2007 headcounts for on-campus Graduate Enrollments (broken into Master's and Doctoral levels) to be updated shortly.
Fireside Chat
Thanks to those that attended the Fireside Chat held in November! Due to an overwhelming response, the location was changed to accommodate our larger crowd. We were pleased by the collaborative efforts taking place. Overall, those that attended felt that it was worthwhile and have encouraged us to continue to facilitate these discussions. For a longer summary, including structure and a personal perspective, please see the document attached on the right side margin. The Communications Committee will plan to have another informal discussion next semester. (Stay tuned for details!)
Beyond CMU 2010
At the ISPC meeting in November, a charge was drafted and group size was discussed for a pre-planning committee in preparation for the next strategic plan. This group will be responsible for brainstorming and researching the best options for CMU beyond 2010 to present to the ISPC. Although the group members have not yet been selected, the Board of Trustees fully supports getting an early start for the next round of planning.
Spotlight on Strengthening the University's Culture of Academic Integrity
Hope May, Director of the Center for Professional and Personal Ethics, which is housed in the Department of Philosophy & Religion, designed her project with current research about Academic Integrity in mind. That research shows that in order for students to take academic integrity seriously, they have to have a sense of “ownership” and be deeply involved with policy education and enforcement. Accordingly, May was been working with several CMU students - Hailey Gibbons (2007), Jordan Schwartz (2007), Chris Allen (2008), and Sandra Joy Russell (2009) - and the group has made the following accomplishments:
During the fall 2006 semester, they created an innovative marketing campaign that encouraged CMU students to take a survey on academic integrity that was administered by one of the nation’s foremost experts on academic integrity, Dr. Donald McCabe of Rutgers University. McCabe has conducted his survey at over 140 universities and has data from over 135,000 students. The response from CMU was incredible, with over 4,000 students and 150 faculty responding to questions regarding the status of academic integrity at CMU. Some of these findings are:
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42% of CMU students admit to “written” cheating, compared to the national average of 46%.
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27% of CMU freshmen admit to test cheating, compared to the national average of 22%. CMU upper classmen have a lower rate of 19%.
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67% of CMU faculty have observed cheating in their classroom. The national average is 55%.
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The majority of both students and faculty at CMU learn about the policy from other faculty.
Over the past year, they wrote and edited the “CMU Redbook,” a handbook for CMU students, by CMU students. The Redbook was launched at the International Conference on Academic Integrity that was held at Newport News Virginia, with great success. Copies of the Redbook are available outside of the Ethics Center (033) and in the library.
In the fall of 2007, they created a blog (http://studentsforintegrity.wordpress.com) as well as a Facebook group in which ethical issues are discussed and debated. They also led a forum on academic integrity in which they both educated fellow students about the policy, and discussed the connection between academic integrity and integrity in the “real world.”
Currently, the group is working on a web-site which will contain podcasts about ethical issues. They also plan to expand the Redbook and include a chapter on multicultural issues pertaining to academic integrity. We anticipate great things from Dr. May and her group in the future, and appreciate their willingness to share their success story with the public!
